The Avengers

The first juggernaut of the summer movie season, The Avengers, opened to both critical and commercial success over the weekend. All of Marvels heavy hitters feature in a movie that has been in the works since 2008's Iron Man.

Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, and Chris Hemsworth all reprise their roles as Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. Robert Downey Jr. stole the show once again, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone, hes perfect as Tony Stark. Captain and Thor both are solid, nothing spectacular. Captain American in particular is incorporated very well after the ending to his solo film, it couldn't have been done any better. Mark Ruffalo as Hulk was stellar after Eric Bana and Ed Norton failed to bring the green monster to the big screen. His ability to portray Bruce Banner as a helpless man overcome by a monster has been the best effort so far, but it remains to be seen if his Hulk can carry a movie all by itself. A movie where Banner learns to control himself as Hulk is a necessity before the inevitable second team up happens.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is how all the supporting characters had their moments and weren't overcome by the heroes. Black Widow and Hawkeye were both given their own moments to shine and their own story line outside of the main story which went a long way in legitimizing them despite not having any actual powers. Jackson as Nick Fury did a great job considering the weight of his material, he delivered it very well and was believable as the head honcho without too much screen time.

Joss Whedon, a name not previously associated with big budget blockbusters did a great job both writing and directing this movie. Bringing together all these other movies and stories into a cohesive and believable plot was a very tough task and I thought he did everything well, my only gripe being the comedic relief bordered on being too much. Captain America tipping Nick Fury in particular really made me cringe. The audience in my theater ate it up though so I am probably not in the majority when it comes to that. He had a great understanding of what he needed to give to generic movie goers and the hard core fans to make this movie great.

8/10

Umami Burger

Yesterday my family and I went to Umami Burger on Hollywood Boulevard. As the name implies, it's an asian themed hamburger restaurant that specializes in high end hamburgers. I got the Manly Burger which has "beer-cheddar cheese, smoked salt onion strings, bacon lardons". I'm not sold on the fancy ass names they give their ingredients, the bacon tasted like bacon, the onion strings tasted like onion strings, and the cheddar cheese tasted like cheddar cheese. I didn't taste any beer or any smoke. That being said I still really enjoyed my meal, especially the truffle cheese fires which you can see in the picture above. The burger in that picture is not mine, fyi. The Mexican Coke was like the cherry on top. It was a great meal and I hope to go back soon.